Chris Nolan has his eye on Weisz, Portman, Knightley for ‘Dark Knight Rises’

At this point, can we just run the same list of names for every project and call it the “exclusive wish list” and have that count as good reporting?

Word is that Christopher Nolan is about to start meeting actresses for two major roles in the new “Batman” film, one a villain and one a romantic interest. The list as it stands now is Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway, and Keira Knightley. Or, to put it another way, the same basic group of talented A-list names that are considered for pretty much every big-budget movie with a female lead of a certain age.

Obvious speculation jumped immediately to Catwoman as the villain, but there’s a problem with that. Nolan and Goyer have both said that the villains for this film would not be villains we’ve already seen in previous Batman films. Here’s where this becomes a game… does Nolan mean that this villain hasn’t appeared in any Batman film ever, or just not in one of his movies? Because one way, it could be Catwoman they’re hiring, but put the other way, there’s not a chance it’s her.

So who would it be if not Catwoman? And do we really buy that Nolan’s just going to add a “romantic interest” to the film? That doesn’t really seem to fit the character as Nolan’s written so far, unless that romance came directly out of the thematic demands of the movie.

I think the best bet for who we’re actually going to see here is Talia Al Ghul, who’s been a major part of the comic mythology, and whose father just happened to be the character played by Liam Neeson in the first film. Like Catwoman, Talia has served as both foil and flame for Batman over the years, and she even carried Bruce Wayne’s baby, which makes her a fascinating possibility to wrap up Nolan’s trilogy. The Al Ghul family could turn out to be the most important figures in the Nolanverse aside from Batman himself.

Whoever these female characters are, remember they’re not alone in the film. Tom Hardy’s already onboard as a villain, and I doubt he’s just going to be a bit player. There’s a lot we don’t know about this film yet, and while there are some hints we can take from all this casting talk, jumping to conclusions is silly, and it also gets the hardcore fans worked up about things that don’t pan out, leading to disappointment for no good reason.

For now, I’ll just say that if it is Talia, I’d love to see Weisz play the role. Then again, there are few roles I wouldn’t want to see Weisz play. I just think she’s got the right heft and maturity and presence to stand toe-to-toe with Bale’s Batman.

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Thali Al Ghul would be ridiculous.
And I don’t want a love interes as the previous Batman’s “flower girls”. That’s why I liked Rachel Dawes. No need for another girl.

By: Jordo

11.11.2010 @ 11:59 PM

Marion Cotillard as Talia would be perfect, but Weisz is also a solid choice. I’m enjoying the guessing game so far.

By: M_R_Fish

11.12.2010 @ 12:56 AM

What if Tom Hardy is playing the role of a reborn Ra’s Al Ghul after a dip in the lazarus pit? Yeah, I know, fantasy doesn’t fit in the universe, but a fun thought nonetheless.

By: Anonymous

11.12.2010 @ 1:07 AM

I have such a mad crush on Weisz because of that maturity â€“ she’s just such a great actor!

By: gov

11.12.2010 @ 1:40 AM

Please don’t call Blake Lively a talented A-lister. Her PR is working overtime getting her name in everything making her seem popular.

By: Tausif Khan

11.12.2010 @ 4:30 AM

Possible female Batman villains:

Catwoman
Poison Ivy
Harley Quinn
Red Claw
Zatanna (not a villain)

Red Claw and Thalia Al Ghul would fit in with Nolan’s vision of Batman as a global character.

I would love to see Raz Al Ghul rise from the lazarus pit. So Nolan could move from fear to terror/chaos to mortality.

Rachel Weisz would make a wonderful Talia because of her time in the Mummy.

By: John

11.12.2010 @ 5:25 AM

Drew, to quote you “And do we really buy that Nolan’s just going to add a “romantic interest” to the film?”

I don’t believe he would, nor do I believe these actresses would take a role as simple as a love interest. Least not Rachel Weisz.

Just to speculate a little further though, they mentioned they are casting TWO female leads. A love interest for Bruce, and a villain. I think they might actually include BOTH Talia and Catwoman. Yes Goyer ruled out Cats early on, but in the two years past, they could have had a change of heart. Here me out.

My prediction (which could be way off base) is that Bruce is dating the good girl (fill in the blank, Julie Madison, Silver St Cloud, etc) but batman ends up being more intrigued with the supposed villainess Catwoman who perhaps likes his true darker self, who Rachel didn’t want to be with “this is your mask”. But later, when Bruce finds that Catwoman isn’t as bad as he thought she was, he realizes the real villainess isn’t her but the romantic interest who is just an alias for Talia to infiltrate Bruce’s life so she can make him suffer and later take revenge for the death of her father. Like father, like daughter.

Again, just a prediction. I’m gonna go for an even longer shot with who Tom Hardy might be playing as well…

Deacon Blackfire from Batman: The Cult

I think The Dark Knight RISES might have a religious or spiritual connotation to the title, and I think he’s much more of a believable villain in the context of Nolan’s films. I think theme wise they could go the Raiders Of The Lost Ark route and deal with “faith”. Although that could include characters like THE REAPER and AZRAEL (Hebrew for angel of death)

By: amberlita

11.12.2010 @ 5:34 AM

“…one of the reasons I try not to run links to every little bit of info during the early days on some of these high-profile sequels is because so much speculation gets mixed into what little original reporting is out there, and eventually, you’re playing an Internet-wide game of telephone, and the loser is accuracy.” Hmm. Who was it that said those words?….

By: Jones6192

11.12.2010 @ 3:42 PM

Did you hear the rumors that Amy Adams, Rachel McAdams, Kate Beckinsale, Emily Blunt, Elizabeth Banks, Evangeline Lilly, Maggie Grace, Lucy Liu and Sean Young were also in the running for casting, Drew? It’s probably bullshit, but seeing as Amy Adams is my favorite actress, I would die from geek joy if she played Talia al Ghul.

By: J

11.12.2010 @ 4:50 PM

I’m gonna go against the grain and vote for Chloe Sevigny for a role in the movie. She’s a great actress and I can see her being both crazy and vulnerable at the same time. Nolan make it happen

By: Trevor Whitecliff

11.12.2010 @ 4:52 PM

Here’s the thing that makes sense to me…

First of all, I’ve never heard of Thalia Al Ghul until this piece, but it would make sense that Wayne would have to deal with how it all began to wrap up the Nolan-Batverse-trilogy. Nolan has always said he viewed his Batman as a “young Batman”, so having Wayne deal with the madness he’s created in Gotham in the second, and more importantly the origin of the madness in the first, it would make sense he transitions to the next phase of his career as an older, more mature crime fighter.

Does that make sense?

I’m probably not explaining myself correctly, but I do think the entire thing is about change and transition, and I don’t think the Wayne character will be able to shake off what he has turned Gotham, and Batman, into, without confronting the repercussions for killing Neeson, and what that meant to global crime conspiracy.

I’m not explaining myself, I don’t believe. But I hope you get the picture.

By: Trevor Whitecliff

11.12.2010 @ 5:04 PM

One more thing…

Instead of packing the flick full of supervillains and super cool actors, I’d like to see the entire thing dedicated to Gordon hunting Batman, and the political and social machinations of the game the two men (or 3, counting Wayne) have to play.

I do think there has to be some other threat to Batman, (and Batman chasing the new threat while Gordon “chases” him) but the way TDK ended, shouldn’t Bats be the villain, technically?

I tend to get nervous when the villain count gets too high.

Also, aren’t we already predetermined to be let down by TDKR in some fashion?